Behrend conference showcases student design projects

ERIE, Pa. — More than 210 students presented their capstone projects at Penn State Behrend’s Fasenmyer Engineering Design Conference on May 3. The projects included sustainable bioplastics, an AI camera system, and a smartphone app that can identify human bones at forensic recovery sites.

Lucas Peterson, a senior in the computer engineering program, worked with a team that is developing an autonomous snow blower. He tested it in a Burke Center classroom, feeding napkins through the machine’s auger.

Though not yet fully autonomous, the snow blower can be controlled through a website.

“With a base station that connects to your home’s Wi-Fi network, you can control this thing from anywhere in the world,” Peterson said.

Ryan Grabowski, a senior in the computer engineering program, helped build a drone that can identify invasive plant species. He tested it at Presque Isle State Park and at Headwaters Park, which is part of the Erie County Conservation District.

“Classes give you the fundamentals,” Grabowski said. “With a project like this, you figure out how all those concepts fit. It definitely makes it click when you see the results.”

Grabowski discussed the project and showed photos from the drone as he interviewed for jobs.

“It sets me apart,” he said. “Employers like the uniqueness of it.”

For some companies, a Fasenmyer project is a yearlong job interview — an opportunity to see how students innovate, and how they work in teams.

This year’s sponsors included NASA, Microsoft, SKF Aerospace and Sphere Brake Defense Inc.

The conference’s keynote speaker, David Boyce, entered industry before he completed his degree at Behrend, in 2001. He was hired by Siemens Energy after completing a co-op at Aalborg Energy, in Behrend’s Knowledge Park.

Today, Boyce is president and CEO of Bloom Engineering Company.

“It’s all about people,” he said, looking back on his experience as a student at Behrend. “Engineers tend focus on what they are doing. The project is what matters to them. But the reality is, everything that is done in a business environment is very much dependent on your ability to work in teams, and to influence teams. This is where you learn that.”